Seeking Out Quality Contemporary Art Volume 1

written by Rachel S Rosen
edited by Cordelia Chadwick

Mel Davis
Bejahung #3

The current art scene in Oakland is beginning to get the
attention it deserves (Not enough of course--Yerba Buena Center for the Arts'
show Oakland: East Side Story is just a beginning,) but
I asked myself: What about Berkeley? What gem of a gallery is hiding in
Berkeley town, a gallery that may be a happy medium between the more
established (and expensive) San Francisco galleries and the hip new galleries in
Oakland? On a rainy day in post-Christmas gloom, I braved the nasty weather
and holiday hang-over to answer this very question. After much searching, I
stumbled onto Fourth street, abuzz with people exchanging gifts or generally
milling about in the trendy shops despite adverse weather conditions. The
Cecile Moochnek Gallery is on the second floor above Hear Music, located in
a district close to the Bay, the Aquatic Park, and the beauteous Marina.

For over twelve years Moochnek has been hanging the work of local Bay area
artists with taste and care. During my visit The Cecile Moochnek Gallery was
home to a well balanced show (running Nov. 17 through Jan. 7, 2007)
displaying works by over 15 artists, using media that
range from encaustic, gypsum, intaglio prints, and sculpture made of
concrete, ceramic, and fabric. Despite the wide range of artists and
materials, there is a grounding continuity to the show that is aesthetically
pleasing. Upon first glance the collection appeals to modernist
sensitivities: the love of the orthogonal--the 90 degree angle, or
square--and geometric, precise compositions; simplicity; abstraction; and the
emphasis on material. All are dominant motifs that run throughout the show.
However, closer inspection reveals that the works go well beyond modernist
clichés; the artwork is unique and contemporary, drawing upon modernist
inspiration to comment on current situations.

Judith Williams
Blue and Red Continuum

The Gallery sells artworks made with integrity at affordable prices, ranging
from $125-$2,500 with everything in between, to accommodate the most novice
art appreciator to the expert collector. Single prints or drawings can cost
as little as $300. Cecile Moochnek herself confided that she feels everyone
should be able to afford beautiful works of art to nourish the soul. Cecile
conceptualizes the gallery as a political space, fighting contemporary fear
and dread with refinement. For Cecile, her work as curator and gallery owner
is to inspire both artists and viewers, whose lives she hopes to enrich. It
is truly rare to find a gallery whose main motto on their web page states,
"The experience of truly seeing art can reawaken a sense of beauty that
nourishes, refreshes and transforms everyday life."

Speaking of experiencing art, I'd like to give the reader a small taste of
the artworks one might encounter at the gallery. One of the artists that
Moochnek represents is Judith Williams, whose series in encaustic and mixed
media on panel exemplify the artistic sensibilities of the gallery. Her
paintings are comprised of multiple translucent layers that impart an
exquisite dreamlike quality. The artist is sparing with her brush strokes,
describing objects as succinctly as possible. Her series deals with
interiors and the ceremonial aspects of drinking tea as inspired by her
recent visit to Japan. The paintings exude a feminine warmth due to the
gentle pastel colors, the soft brush strokes, the collaged patterning that
resembles dress material, and the domestic space she depicts. Her collaged
elements are sparse and carefully planed, seamlessly blending into the
painting. Williams uniquely expresses the themes that run throughout the
gallery: simplicity, geometric compositions that nevertheless contain
organically flowing elements, and sensitivity to symmetry and balance.

Indeed, Cecile related her interest in Zen Buddhism and how it informs the
gallery's organization and content. Additionally, the gallery represents
many local Asian artists, who oftentimes display unique and minimal
sensibilities, including Seiko Tachibana. One of Tachibana's intaglio pieces
called Scene of Memory 4 was especially intriguing. Seemingly erratic
marks march across the horizontal lines running across this long
composition, reading almost like music or an abstract and rapturous
landscape. In actuality, intaglio is a form of printmaking which is very
precise, so Tachibana's lyrical marks, reminiscent of Sumi brush strokes,
are just as thoughtfully chosen as her uncommon pallet.

Carol Lee Shanks
Totem I and Totem II

Some of the most remarkable works in the gallery are by Carol Lee Shanks, an
artist known for innovative fashion, but who created three psychologically
complex sculptures for this show. Her Sea Urchin, reminiscent of work by
artists like Eva Hesse and Lee Bontecou, is comprised of sharp bamboo sticks
and Chinese fiber. The Sea Urchin seems to come alive as the bamboo sticks
create geometric spirals that interact with the form of the fabric and with
each other. The artist writes in her statement that through "stitching and
piercing techniques ... cloth reveal[s] a resemblance to the same forms and
textures that mark or scar our skin." As a clothing designer, Shanks is most
interested in the body, and the visceral effect of Shanks' work, so similar
to the experience of works like Vinculum I by Hesse, are also present in
Shanks' two other sculptures. Above the Sea Urchin sculpture float Totem
I and Totem II, hanging from the ceiling. Made from fiber and twigs,
these wonderfully strange figures hover like spirits that impart a surreal
yet corporeal experience to the viewer.
One of my favorite pieces in the show was painted by Mel Davis, a well
published and represented artist in her early 30's who recently received her
MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her piece is entitled Bejahung #3,
a curious German title which literally means "saying yes," or
meeting experience without preconceived notions. This title is appropriate,
as her paintings are constantly changing hue due to the time of day,
lighting, and position of the viewer. This particular Bejahung (there are
many variations on this theme) is an exquisite, seemly minimalist painting.
It is as glossy as a newly polished car, and it is extremely "clean": its
edges are unpainted wood that reinforce the primacy of the picture plane,
and its seamlessly undulating blue surface imparts a fresh metallic feel.
The artist has created dozens of glossy layers in this painting, inspired by
the Renaissance technique of Sfumato--think of the delicate, smoky shading in
Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa--to create a mesmerizing field of blue. The
viewer gets lost in the variation and depth of the piece, entering into a
reverie of light. It is the kind of feeling one might have reverently
viewing a Rothko, but more contained, precise, clean and
concentrated.

Cecile Moochnek

Here's my favorite aspect of the Moochnek Gallery, even more pleasing than
the Zen-like simplicity of the gallery space echoed in all of the work on
the walls: part of the Moochnek Gallery's progressivism is the amount of
female artists the gallery represents. So many galleries and museums
disproportionately focus on male artists, and it is an important statement
that the Moochnek Gallery makes in supporting female artists. The Gallery is
a space charged with positive energy: it is warm, intimate, and inviting to
artists and audiences dealing with the issues of contemporary life,
including the female experience. My recommendation for a hot date: pick a
Sunday to visit the Berkeley Marina and rent a kite, go to a free Sake
tasting at Takara brewery at 708 Addison, then mosey on over to the Cecile
Moochnek Gallery and hobnob. It will be worth it, and you just might impress
your partner who is always complaining you two never do anything.

-- Rachel S Rosen

Rachel is an artist, freelance writer and educator in the Bay Area.

Many of the works by artists mentioned in this article can be purchased from
Cecile Moochnek Gallery.